Here and There

 We did some nature study today and journaling. It's one of my favorite things to do with the kids. It was cold today, but worth it!

I love these paint brushes that hold water in them so you don't have to carry water with you when you do nature journaling outside.

My oldest drew a banana tree. No, we don't live anywhere near a tropical place, but they somehow grow here- not well though. 

Mushrooms! 

My youngest one found an interesting bug. 

My daughter also drew a little.

History of China, Part 2

 I just finished the History of China book, part 2. The first part goes from ancient history to the Tang Dynasty and the second part goes through after the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Both parts 1 and 2 are available as PDF on lulu.com. here: https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/rachel-bubb/history-of-china-part-2/ebook/product-pmm4nm.html?page=1&pageSize=4.   

Year 3 for Learning Characters

 I just finished year 3 for learning Chinese characters using the Charlotte Mason method. The first year has 3 stories, the 2nd year had another 3 stories, and the 3rd year had 10 stories. Each story adds to the vocabulary that was learned before. All 3 books are available Lulu.com. (look for Rachel Bubb ebooks). The drawings are from the stories from book 3. Each story has 1 drawing.

Birds of Asia For Kids

 I just finished a book that introduces children to 36 different birds across Asia through stories about them. This book has been a lot of fun to put together and I've really enjoyed it! The ebook is available on www.lulu.com and the printed version is available also on www.lulu.com or amazon (look for "Birds of Asia For Kids").

Xi'an Museum (and the Little Goose Pagoda park)

 We went to the Little Goose Pagoda and the Xi'an Museum (which are all in one big park) last week. We've been there many times before but the park (and a few other parks) were closed since last summer (almost a year) for renovations. Are the renovations good? They took out many (almost all!) of the bushes and put in grass and new trees. The park looks nice but has lost much of its uniqueness and character. The pagoda itself used to be open to go up for a fee but now it's closed (maybe permanently?) to go up. We think a new company is in charge of a number of parks in the city because a number of parks have undergone renovations (and they are all looking very similar and loosing much of the originality each one had). 

Shaanxi Museum

 Today we went to the Shaanxi Museum. We had to reserve our tickets ahead of time because the museum is so popular! They limit how many people can go at a time- and it's still super crowded! We were glad to go as a family so we could make our way around the big groups and enjoy the parts of the museum that weren't so crowded. Last year we went to the park where the 2nd Qin Emperor is buried. They made a garden/park area around the tomb and a little museum (all are free) and they have huge replicas of the money they used from the Qin Dynasty, some bells, a helmet, and some other things from the Qin Dynasty. The huge replicas are all in the park area and the kids had so much fun seeing them last year. Today they got to see the real things today at the museum and so it was fun for them to connect the two experiences. I think if we hadn't gone to the park area last year, the museum wouldn't have been as interesting for the kids as it was today. Overall, it was a good experience- even for the kids. One thing we did is we didn't stay too long in any area but kept walking. My oldest had fun taking pictures of the things he liked at the museum- each of the kids found some interesting things they liked.